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How to Build A Website

Getting Started

You’ve decided to build your first website: Congratulations! A website is your identity
and brand on the Internet, so it’s important to make it just the way you want it.

If you’re worried about where to begin or intimidated by the complexities of web building, don’t be. We’ll
walk you through the process of building your website in the clear and easy steps outlined below. You’ll
learn the basic elements of a unique and impactful site for business or personal use.

Basics First

Building a Website

All websites begin with three basic elements: a domain name, hosting, and a platform.

Domain name

Your address on the web. It's the part that comes between "http://www." and
".com".

Hosting

Where all the data and information about your site is kept. If the domain is your street
address, hosting is your house.

Platform

The tools with which you make your website and the space in which it's created.

Domain Name

Domain Basics

Every website needs a domain
name. Your domain is like the street address for your house. It will allow people to find your
website and link to you.

But what should your domain name be? If you have a business, that should be an easy question to
answer, since your
website should match your business name. If you're creating a personal site or blog, though, you
can get a little more creative with your name.

How to Choose a Domain Name

A domain name will look something like http://www.yoursite.com. It's common to use your
organization or business name here. For example, if you own a bookstore, you might choose
thebookstorename.com.
The same format would work for pretty much any other business name.

If you don't already have a business name, it's good idea to choose one based on what might be
available as a domain. This is a great opportunity to match up your business and online identities from
the start.

Curious to see if your ideal domain is available? Go ahead and type it in here:

TIP: There's a huge selection of great domain extensions besides .com. Why not get
creative with something like .club, .life, or even .pizza?

Further Reading

Hosting

Hosting Explained

Now that your site has a name, you'll need a place to keep all the stuff that's going to go on
it–some "real estate" upon which you can build that beautiful virtual house with all of your photos
and stories and products. We call that real estate web hosting.

All web hosting happens on a server, which, in the simplest terms, is a remote hard drive connected to your computer by (you guessed it) the Internet.
This server stores all of the documents, images, data, and files associated with your website.

Since the server holds all your important stuff, it's important to choose a reliable provider that
ensures your content will stay live and protected. When you bought your domain name, the registrar
(the company that sells domains) may have offered to include a web builder plan which included
hosting. Alternately, you can install software, such as WordPress, to help you create your site.

Further Reading

Platforms

Site Builders and WordPress

If you're building your first website, you may not have the time or expertise to create it
completely from scratch. That's okay—we all need a little guidance and inspiration to help us along.

That's where site building platforms come in. They provide the practical tools and resources used to
build and design your site, from layout templates to text editors to design elements. This is a great
option if you have limited or no experience with web building and design, or if you just want a
quick, no-nonsense setup process.

However, if you want more control over the customization, functionality, and personalization of your
site, and you've got a little more technical know-how (or even just the time and desire to learn!),
we recommend installing WordPress. An entire ecosystem, complete with plugins and add-ons, WordPress
offers an all-in-one site creation option. Learn more about why WordPress is a great option and how to get started.

Further Reading

Connect

How Do I Connect My Hosting With My Domain?

You’ve got your domain for a unique site name, and your hosting plan where all your site data lives.
But how do you connect the two, especially if you’re dealing with two different providers?

Meet DNS (short for domain name system), the series of networks that keeps the people and computers
that make up the Internet talking to each other. By attaching the right nameservers to your site, the
connections between your domain and hosting provider are kept clear - allowing the data to run smoothly.

Click the hookup link below to see how to connect your nameservers and DNS, whether you’re a Namecheap
customer or you use another company.

Further Reading

Secure

How Do I Keep My Site Secure?

Like anything else you own or care about, your website data needs to be protected. Safer sites mean
more confident customers and a more trustworthy brand for your organization or business. And since
everything on the web is connected, your online security contributes to a safer Internet, like a link
in a chain.

Here are three things you can do right now for a safer website:

SSL

Protect your site with HTTPS, encrypt your data, and verify where it comes from and where it goes.

DNS

Assign the right nameservers to your site to keep the connections between your domain and hosting
provider clear, and your data running smoothly.

VPN

Keep your connection encrypted and anonymous when on-the-go i.e. browsing non-secure and open
networks like public WiFi.

SSL

Verify & Encrypt

The useful security tool with a boring name, Secure Sockets Layer (or SSL) certificates are a security
add-on for your domain. If you’ve ever visited a web address that starts with “HTTPS”, has a padlock
icon, or turns green when it loads, it means that site is secured with SSL.

So what does an SSL do for you?

SSL certificates serve two main functions for your site’s security: they keep your data encrypted as
it travels to and from your site, and they verify that the sites your data comes from and goes to
actually are who they say they are. Pretty important when your site is talking to banks or government
agencies, or handling e-commerce.

Further Reading

DNS

The Phone Book of the Internet

Say you wanted to visit our website, Namecheap.com. It’s as easy as typing “namecheap.com” into your
search bar and hitting Enter, right? This is thanks to the Internet’s domain name system (DNS, for
short). DNS allows you to type familiar words and names into your browser or address bar when searching
for websites and sending emails, instead of a long string of numbers.

Here’s how it works: When you search for a domain name in a browser, it sends a query over the
Internet to match the domain name (words) with its corresponding IP address (numbers). Once located, it
uses the IP to retrieve the website’s content and return it to you. Pretty cool, huh?

This essential process works behind-the-scenes in a matter of milliseconds, but it doesn’t mean
there’s no risk involved. In fact, hackers can interrupt and hijack the process as quickly as it
happens, spoofing your site data and committing fraud without you even knowing it until it’s too late.

Adding DNS protection ensures your site
data is properly sent and received by the right parties. It also makes it more likely that searchers end
up on your site, which can help your business.

Further Reading

Vpn

Safe, Anonymous, Global Browsing

A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, allows you to connect to the Internet using a hidden and encrypted
network. VPNs are commonly used by employees who want to safely access their work files from remote
locations, but they can also mask your connection for browsing privacy or let you bypass regional
network restrictions.

Further Reading

Design

How Do I Make a Good-looking Site?

Eye-catching websites aren’t just about winning beauty contests. Your site navigation should be as
easy on the brain as your design is easy on the eyes.

Site Architecture

Start with a strong “skeleton” on which to build the “body” of your site. Putting in a little
extra effort at the beginning will pay off in the long run.

Visual Appearance

Form is function, and a visually appealing site is a site that just works–for you and your
customers.

Using Multimedia

Learn the right and wrong ways to use multimedia to enhance your site’s appeal and searchability.

Site Architecture

Start with a Solid Foundation

You don’t need to be Frank Lloyd Wright to design a great website, but building one atop a solid
information architecture is a must for any business. The two main questions all web builders need to
address are, “who is my audience?” and “what do I want them to do when they first arrive on my site?”
Structuring your site and all the products and services on it to appeal to these two issues will make
the rest of the pieces of your architectural puzzle fall into place.

Further Reading

Visual Appearance

There's Power in the Pretty

Good design, is useful design. When you put the effort into giving your site the most
visual impact, you’re not just tidying up the Internet (although thanks for that too), you’re
cultivating attention and trust in your brand. The result is that your customers feel better about
staying
on your site.

More than just aesthetic intuition, good design can be broken down into key elements that can be
understood and repeated by just about anyone, regardless of artistic talent. Things like the “human
connection” (why we as humans like photos of ourselves vs. pictures of objects), the mechanics of a
good layout, and the science behind color palettes are all key elements in making your site stand out
visually.

Further Reading

Using Multimedia

Minimize the Multimedia

We’re all anxious to make our sites stand out with eye-catching videos, gifs, and dynamic graphic
effects. But it’s wise to first have a plan before you start uploading big files and embedding YouTube
videos.

You see, not only can too many images and videos slow down your page load times considerably, but
failing to properly caption, tag, and embed your multimedia can actually hurt your SEO ranking. By not
understanding the unique characteristics of multimedia files on your site, you could be driving
business away. Take a look at these
tips for hosting multimedia the right way.

Further Reading

Nice job! You’ve got your site up and running and securely
protected, with content and design elements fully optimized. No matter what you do online, your
visitors and customers can rely on your site as a safe, reliable, and eye-catching place to land. Good
luck!

Still have questions? That’s what our Customer Support team is here for.Feel free to ask us anything,
we’re available 24/7 to help you.